Income Inequality: A New Report Highlights the Shocking Level of Poverty Endured by LGBT People-And Their Children

Article excerpt

The economy may slowly be getting Its groove back, but many LGBT people will miss that rising tide. A recent report from the Half in Ten program--a campaign by the Center for American Progress and like-minded groups that aims to reduce poverty by half in 10 years--indicates that LGBT people, especially lesbians and transgender people, endure vast income inequality compared to their heterosexual peers.

"Lesbian couples tend to have much higher poverty rates than either heterosexual or male couples," according to the report, titled "Restoring Shared Prosperity: Strategies to Cut Poverty and Expand Economic Growth." "[Older] lesbian couples ... are twice as likely as straight married couples to live in poverty."

The numbers, culled from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, indicated that up to 64% of transgender people make less than $25,000 a year. Also disturbing was the finding that children of gay couples are twice as likely to be poor as offspring of straight, married couples. …